1996 HYUNDAI ELANTRA — Owner-Reported Problems

NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-08-22 99 complaints · 3 recalls
Most-reported system: POWER TRAIN (18 complaints · 18.2%)
Safety signals:
  • Crashes 11
  • Fires 3
  • Injuries 2
  • Deaths 2
Compare with 1995 →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Component Problem Distribution

Share of owner complaints filed for each vehicle system (unaffected by sales volume)

Component Problem Distribution POWER TRAIN appears in 18 of 99 owner complaints (18.2%) in this vehicle snapshot. POWER TRAIN: 18 complaints, 18.2% of reports POWER TRAIN 18 · 18.2% · 2 crash reports ENGINE: 13 complaints, 13.1% of reports ENGINE 13 · 13.1% · 1 fire reports AIR BAGS: 11 complaints, 11.1% of reports AIR BAGS 11 · 11.1% · 7 crash reports FUEL SYSTEM: 11 complaints, 11.1% of reports FUEL SYSTEM 11 · 11.1% VISIBILITY: 9 complaints, 9.1% of reports VISIBILITY 9 · 9.1% ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: 8 complaints, 8.1% of reports ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 · 8.1% SERVICE BRAKES: 5 complaints, 5.0% of reports SERVICE BRAKES 5 · 5.0% · 2 crash reports STRUCTURE: 4 complaints, 4.0% of reports STRUCTURE 4 · 4.0% SUSPENSION: 2 complaints, 2.0% of reports SUSPENSION 2 · 2.0% UNKNOWN OR OTHER: 88 complaints, 88.9% of reports UNKNOWN OR OTHER 88 · 88.9% · 10 crash reports 3 fire reports 0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

UNKNOWN OR OTHER is an NHTSA classification artifact and is always listed last.

View component data as a table
System / Component Complaints Share of Reports Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires)
POWER TRAIN 18 18.2% 2 crashes · 0 fires
ENGINE 13 13.1% 0 crashes · 1 fires
AIR BAGS 11 11.1% 7 crashes · 0 fires
FUEL SYSTEM 11 11.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
VISIBILITY 9 9.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8 8.1% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SERVICE BRAKES 5 5.0% 2 crashes · 0 fires
STRUCTURE 4 4.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
SUSPENSION 2 2.0% 0 crashes · 0 fires
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 88 88.9% 10 crashes · 3 fires
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Problem & Recall Timeline

Observed complaint volume and manufacturer recall actions over time

Problem & Recall Timeline Owner reports in this snapshot begin in Oct 1996; the first recall shown was reported in Feb 1997. 1996-Q4: 8 owner reports 8 1997-Q1: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1997-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1997-Q4: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q2: 4 owner reports 4 1998-Q3: 5 owner reports 5 1998-Q4: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q1: 5 owner reports 5 1999-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 1999-Q3: 2 owner reports 2 1999-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2000-Q2: 6 owner reports 6 2000-Q3: 7 owner reports 7 2000-Q4: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q1: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2001-Q3: 3 owner reports 3 2002-Q3: 4 owner reports 4 2003-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 2003-Q3: 1 owner reports 1 2003-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q1: 3 owner reports 3 2004-Q2: 1 owner reports 1 2004-Q4: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q1: 1 owner reports 1 2008-Q2: 2 owner reports 2 Owner reports Oct 1996 Apr 2008 Recall campaign 97V026000 ◆ Recall campaign 97V026000 Recall campaign 00V095001 ◆ Recall campaign 00V095001 Recall campaign 00V095002 ◆ Recall campaign 00V095002 Investigation PE97002 ● Investigation PE97002 Investigation SQ00003 ● Investigation SQ00003
  • Campaign 97V026000 was reported 142 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 00V095001 was reported 923 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
  • Campaign 00V095002 was reported 1,038 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
Date Record type Count Record identifier
1996-Q4 Owner reports 8
1997-Q1 Owner reports 6
1997-Q2 Owner reports 6
1997-Q3 Owner reports 5
1997-Q4 Owner reports 4
1998-Q2 Owner reports 4
1998-Q3 Owner reports 5
1998-Q4 Owner reports 6
1999-Q1 Owner reports 5
1999-Q2 Owner reports 6
1999-Q3 Owner reports 2
1999-Q4 Owner reports 2
2000-Q1 Owner reports 2
2000-Q2 Owner reports 6
2000-Q3 Owner reports 7
2000-Q4 Owner reports 2
2001-Q1 Owner reports 2
2001-Q2 Owner reports 2
2001-Q3 Owner reports 3
2002-Q3 Owner reports 4
2003-Q2 Owner reports 2
2003-Q3 Owner reports 1
2003-Q4 Owner reports 1
2004-Q1 Owner reports 3
2004-Q2 Owner reports 1
2004-Q4 Owner reports 1
2008-Q1 Owner reports 1
2008-Q2 Owner reports 2
Recall campaign 1 97V026000
Recall campaign 1 00V095001
Recall campaign 1 00V095002
Defect investigation 1 PE97002
Defect investigation 1 SQ00003
NHTSA Safety Recalls Snapshot 2026-08-22 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Safety Recalls (3)

Official safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA

  1. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 00V095001

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    FUEL LEAKAGE IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE COULD RESULT IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL PRESSURE CHECK THE VEHICLE'S FUEL TANK TO DETERMINE IF IT HAS CRACKED. IF THE FUEL TANK HAS CRACKED, IT WILL BE REPLACED.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  2. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 00V095002

    Report date
    Component:
    FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
    Consequence:
    FUEL LEAKAGE IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IGNITION SOURCE COULD RESULT IN A FIRE.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL PRESSURE CHECK THE VEHICLE'S FUEL TANK TO DETERMINE IF IT HAS CRACKED. IF THE FUEL TANK HAS CRACKED, IT WILL BE REPLACED.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →

  3. Manufacturer action

    Recall campaign 97V026000

    Report date
    Component:
    VISIBILITY
    Consequence:
    THIS CONTAMINATION INTERFERES WITH THE ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT CONTINUITY AND PREVENTS THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR FROM OPERATING. INOPERATIVE WINDSHIELD WIPERS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO REDUCED VISIBILITY DURING INCLEMENT WEATHER INCREASING THE RISK OF A VEHICLE CRASH.
    Remedy:
    DEALERS WILL REMOVE THE CONTAMINANTS FROM THE WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR CIRCUIT BREAKER CONTACTS.
    View authoritative NHTSA record →
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Complaint Narrative Explorer

Verbatim owner-reported defect narratives from NHTSA public records

Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-08-21
Safety incident filters
Showing 0 of 99 complaints · page 1 of 4

No complaints match the current filters.
EPA Fuel Economy Database Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Estimated Ownership Cost

EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates

Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Supported range: 1,000–60,000 miles per year
Supported range: $1.50–$10.00 per gallon
55% city45% highway
Estimate unavailable

EPA fuel-economy data is unavailable for this vehicle.

No estimate is shown when required EPA values are unavailable.

 Open Ownership Cost Calculator →

Adjacent Model Years

Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records

NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-08-21 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →

Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.

Methodology & Data Integrity

Data sourced from NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. Snapshot date: 2026-08-21.

Read our complete data methodology → Sources